Chicago Olympians: Day 12

By Marcus Gilmer in Miscellaneous on Aug 20, 2008 4:30PM

Words cannot even express how much I am going to miss having Bela Karolyi in my life from now on. The man could make watching someone paint sound exciting. Where's the drama in my life now? How can I get excited about anything else after having Bela's exuberance in my life for the last nine days? Fortunately, there's still plenty of Olympics to go as we close in on team finals as well as some individual finals. Today's Chicago-area results after the jump.

Men's Basketball - Despite a slow start in the first quarter, Team USA pulled away from Australia for a 116-85 victory to advance to Thursday's semifinals. Dwyane Wade had 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal in the victory. Next up for the U.S. is Argentina and the Chicago Bulls' Andres Nocioni, who had 12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals in their victory over Greece.

Softball - Gasp! Is Team USA actually mortal? Well, no. They still won but did so in dramatic fashion. After being locked in a scoreless eight inning struggle with Japan, the Americans got a three-run walk-off homer in extra innings from Crystl Bustos for a 4-1 victory. Cat Osterman pitched a single inning of relief in the win.

Men's Indoor Volleyball - The U.S. Men's Team, featuring area athletes Tom Hoff and Sean Rooney, outlasted Serbia 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-18, 15-12) in an epic quarterfinal match. Up next is Russia in the semis on Thursday.